Endless Loop 100: Estranged

Have you ever had one of those songs that gets stuck in your head for days…weeks…years? Sure you have. These are the songs that always make the cut. The songs on repeat. We all have them. I have a ton. Welcome back to Endless Loop.

“Estranged” by Guns ‘N Roses

And so we’ve reached the 100th entry of this rambling, semi-coherent column. What better way to celebrate that milestone and close out the year than a nod to one of the most bloated, overwrought, and ostentatious songs of the 20th century that I also happen to have an unbridled and unwavering adoration for. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for the epic majesty that is “Estranged” by Guns ‘N Roses.

Clocking in at over nine minutes, “Estranged” kicks off the back end of 1991’s Use Your Illusion II, a dramatic and overstuffed finale to an already dramatic and overstuffed double (quadruple on vinyl!) series of albums from the then biggest rock band in the world. There’s a reason that raw and unfussy punk rock came roaring back to life that same year. There was an overwhelming sense that rock music had gotten too big for its proverbial britches, a gold and garish sheen of light glowing like the Vegas strip for all to behold. But goddamn, behind all that bloat and bluster, is something truly breathtaking to hear, see, and experience. Axl and Co. may be trafficking unfettered in every single artistic urge and idea that pops into their heads (More solos! More bridges! More dolphins!), but the end result is never not entertaining.

Watch the video below.

So, aside from a prerequisite and forthcoming “best of” essay looming on the horizon, I bid farewell to 2016 with one of my favorite songs from junior high.

From a bunker somewhere in Central Texas, Thomas H. Williams spends most of his time with his wife, his two sons, and his increasingly neurotic dog. He listens to a lot of music, drinks a lot of excellent beers, and gets out from time to time. For even more shenanigans, visit heavenisanincubator.blogspot.com.